Could this be a milk allergy? What should I do?

[strawberrycornetto]

DS is just over 6 months old. He has been exclusively breastfed up to weaning. He has eczema and generally dry skin and also has mild reflux.

We have started weaning slowing along Annabel Karmel lines with various veg purees etc. All fine.

On Sunday, a couple of hours after he ate, he developed a rash around his mouth. Kind of red spots. It went down after a while. I thought possible allergic reaction but was surprised as he'd only had parsnips which he'd already had an been fine with. But I discovered that DH had mixed cows milk in with his parsnip because it was too thick .

This was the first cows milk he's been exposed to. I know that reflux, eczema and allergies can all be linked. I also have a nut allergy .

Does anyone know what I should do? Will ask HV but know they don't always give good advice and our GP is useless.

Thanks for your help!

Hold off giving any more dairy related foods for a while.

Were his lips swollen at all?

You can sometimes test to see if allergic buy testing first on the skin round his mouth before feeding. If he comes up in a rash again I'd suggest seeing your GP and asking for a referral to an allergy clinic where they will test him and prescribe an hypoallergic formula if appropriate.

Re: the eczema - perhaps try cutting dairy out of your diet and see if this leads to an improvement in his skin.

I didn't discover dd's allergy til I was weaning her off the breast and with hindsight now know that some of her problems were due to the dairy she was ingesting through my breastmilk.

I have to say this sounds quite similar to my ds who turned out to be milk and egg allergic. Suggest you put a little milk on his skin (say his back, or back of his neck, somewhere he won't touch) and see what happens. If you are suspicious go to the GP and ask for a referral. Consultant can do skin tests to confirm.

FYI we found my ds' allergies at 5 months when he first had a sip of formula in preparation for my return to work.

HTH

Oh and I went dairy free on consultants advice for the remaining months of bf my ds. BUT this was with dietician advice. You could try it as MissisBoot suggests but only do it for a week or two (enough to see if there's a change) - any more and you really must make sure you supplement with calcium - for you and for him.

Yes, this sounds like it could be sensitivity (though not necessarily an allergy) to cows' milk. DS had exactly the same thing. He was fine with cheese and yoghurt but anything with uncooked cows' milk in brought him up in hives, just as you have described.

However, we subsequently had blood testing for various allergies (related to his eczema) and dairy came up negative. Now at 18mo he is fine with cows' milk. He is allergic to eggs, though.

I would ask your GP for a referral to a specialist who can advise on the eczema and possible allergies. Any exclusion diet should be done under the supervision of a dietician and needs to be done very thoroughly for at least 2/3 weeks.

Thanks for the quick responses. Allergies are so scary and the doctors have never given me any advice or support over my nut allergy. Thankfully its brazil nuts only and not peanuts but it still really scares me.

I am seeing my doctor today so I will mention it and see what kind of reaction I get from her.

Is it dangerous to try milk on his skin?